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Journey to Parenthood

I want to be purposeful about journaling during this time in our lives as we watch our miracle micro preemie, Asher, continue to grow and thrive. I began this blog during my month of bed rest at the hospital while I was pregnant with Asher and his brother Titus. We continue to hope and trust the Lord for Asher's future. This blog begins with the story of how both of our boys came to be. They came about after many tears, many prayers, and many months of crushed hopes. On February 2, 2012, our boys Titus Bauer and Asher Mark were born at just 23 weeks and 2 days gestation. My water around Titus broke at 19 weeks, so his lungs were very underdeveloped. Titus lived 45 minutes and is now living a perfect life in heaven as he watches over his little brother Asher. Two and a half years later God redeemed our story of hurt with a precious full term baby brother for Asher. We are humbled by how the Lord has loved on us in our journey through parenthood.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Tube-less and Tape-less after 6 1/2 months!

Asher had his g-button surgery last Friday. (Aug. 17th) Poor buddy had waaay too many wires and tubes afterwards. He had an ng in his nose draining his tummy, the g-tube itself had a tube and bag attached to vent his tummy. Then he had an iv on his foot, and a pulse ox on a toe, and all the normal leads recording his heart rate and breathing rates (5 of those.) We were all so ready for him to loose some wires! And the day after surgery..he slowly did.

Ah, feeling a little better.

Just the tube venting and the iv left.

Wire free!

Here's a close up of the button with gauze underneath it. The gauze needs to be there a few weeks to protect the skin under it. The incision is next to it and covered with clear tape so you can't see it very well.

We LOVE seeing his tube-less, tape-less face!!! His first week after surgery was pretty rough. He didn't feel very well. He was throwing up at every feeding and crying, coughing, gagging through all the throwing up. We think his tummy was sore, inside and out.... so every time he coughed or threw up, it hurt his tummy too. :( We ran his feeds even slower (over 2 hours), dropped the calories a little, and the volume at little and that seemed to help. We hope to start feeding therapy very very soon at Our Children's House. He still doesn't want to suck at all. Part of that is he's been through a lot, and also we think he's not super hungry because his food runs for so long. But it's all a balancing act....creating an environment for him to want to eat...and throwing up all the time doesn't make anyone want to eat! So, we will begin to take slow steps back to eating, and hope and pray he will want to eat and will enjoy it one day!!

It's been MUCH harder to catch Asher smiling on camera now. My phone captures his attention and he watches it and focuses on it instead of smiling at me because of what I'm saying to him! It's so funny how observant he's becoming. His hands catch his eye every now and then and he watches them move as if they aren't part of him! It's so funny. He's "growing up"....getting so aware and smart!

1 comment:

Robyn,My name is Katelyn, I have an almost 2 year old, Gabriel, with a g-tube. He's had his g-tube for 21 months, and I've learned a lot in that time through trial and error, but also through online parent forums and blogs. The best information I got about how to care for a g-tube (and about a blenderized diet; Asher does NOT have to be on formula, PTL) was from online, not the surgeon or nurses, sadly. I just wanted to make myself available to you as a face to face contact, this (the tubie life) is a small world. katelyn.rauch824@gmail.com

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About Me

"Retired" teacher..taught 7 great years at Heritage Elem in Highland Village. Bryan owns his own business in Highland Village, TX. We have an amazing miracle son named Asher that we are so thankful for!